After several previous years of struggles in the classroom, SDSU’s football and baseball teams suffered costly scholarship penalties under the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate program. But both have since rallied to avoid postseason bans and now have their best scores ever, according to data released Wednesday by the NCAA.

The scores kept improving, though. Sterk said the program was able to get its head above water academically by recruiting “more traditional four-year kids” and making sure that players are in good academic standing. This year, the team has a rolling four-year score of 935 under head coach Tony Gwynn.

No SDSU team suffered penalties this year. The women’s cross country team earned a perfect score of 1,000. The men’s basketball team posted a score of 935 after scoring a 938 last year.

By contrast, 15 other Division I teams face postseason bans this year, including the men’s basketball teams at UConn, the University of California-Riverside and Cal State-Bakersfield. All had scores under 900, the current benchmark for postseason play.

“It sends a message to our teams and our critics that we mean business, “ said Walter Harrison, chair of the NCAA Committee on Academic Performance. “Teams need to take care of things first things first, or they won’t be able to play in the postseason. Those teams not eligible for the postseason need to think hard about who they recruit and how they support their student athletes.”

The NCAA will increase the standard for postseason play to 930 for the 2015-16 season. The APR measures the retention and academic eligibility of student-athletes over a rolling four-year period. A score of 930 projects as a Graduation Success Rate of 50 percent.

The average four-year APR for men’s basketball is 950, up five points over last year. Football’s average is 948, up two points. Baseball’s average is 965, up six points.

Northwestern had the top APR in football at 995. Texas-El Paso and Louisville ranked last at 911.